The Dimmed Ruby
by ErthGrl9870
Summary: Nami wonders why she's still in Forget-Me-Not Valley after all he's done to her and her son. I suck at summaries. Just give it a shot. Requested 2nd chapter up!
1. The Dimmed Ruby

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's related stuff. It all belongs to Natsume. (except Jimmy =3) Got it?

Hey, I wrote something new! This was just something random I wrote cause I was bored. I don't exactly know where the idea came from, and it's probably been done a million times, but whatever. Enjoy what I wrote. Be sure to review after you read!

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The crickets chirped as Nami looked out at Forget-Me-Not Valley. The wind blew the ruby strands of her hair gently about her face. _Why am I still here? _She thought to herself. _It's because of HIM._ Her mind called back. Nami turned around and headed towards the house she now lived in. Not so long ago Nami had called the Inn her home. Everything was thrown out of whack when HE came.

Nami walked into the little farm house and closed the door quietly so as not to wake her son. Yes, Nami had a son. If only her father could see her now. He'd scoff at the very thought of her spawn. The bed she normally shared with HIM was empty. That meant that he was probably out drinking late again. No doubt he was also flirting with Muffy at the bar. That girl would have no mind to the fact that HE was a married man.

Soft breathing could be heard coming from the small bed in the room. Jimmy was probably in a deep sleep by now. Jimmy, her four year old son. Poor Jimmy, who had to deal with a father who never payed an ounce of attention to him. Poor Jimmy, who only wanted his father's love. Nami had no doubt that the young boy would learn to resent his father some day. She wouldn't be surprised if he never took over the farm. Personally, she'd rather he never considered such a thing.

Nami sat down on the edge of her bed and sighed. _How did this happen? Why, why am I here? _The same question kept running through her mind. You see, Nami was never one to stay in one place for too long. She'd always been a traveler. However, when she came to Forget-Me-Not Valley she found that she couldn't leave. The place was too peaceful. It was exactly what she'd been searching for.

That is however, until HE showed up. He was an obnoxious city boy, not unlike the many men she had tried to run away from. But he was different. He had been willing to give up city life to run a farm. Not many people can say that they've done that around here. He had his own unique charm and could easily catch attention. Nami didn't like him.

Over the course of his first year in the village, he flirted endlessly with all the single women. The neighbouring farm owner, Vesta, was trying to hook up Celia with HIM. Unknown to the whole town, Celia was actually interested in Gustafa – the musician from down the way. How did Nami know this? Also unknown to the town, Celia and Nami were good friends. Celia would often come and talk to her about life and philosophy.

Nami had been completely turned off by HIM and his stupid faux suave flirting. But one day he showed up at the Inn out of the blue. He never tried to flirt with her. No he never did. He came to show her his finds from the dig he'd just done. Nami had always loved the work that Carter and Flora did by the waterfall, so she was easily pulled in by the topic. That was the beginning of where things got complicated.

Every few days HE would show up at the inn and shower Nami with archaeological gifts. This was how he won her heart in the end. Nami had thought that he'd make a good husband. He had said that he was being pressured into marriage, but she never understood what that really meant. Nami thought she found her fairy tale man. She had been quite mistaken.

The first few years of marriage had been wonderful. Nami couldn't believe how amazing HE was. He managed to take care of the farm, give her lots of love and attention, and have free time to just relax after work. But this all changed after Jimmy was born. Nami had to stay home to tend to the baby and HE refused to help look after his son. He always looked at Jimmy like he shouldn't have been born. The poor boy was set for neglect right from birth.

Nami had no time to watch what her husband was doing. If she had, she would have noticed that he was frequenting the bar. He'd come home late, drunk and noisy. He'd yell at the baby when he started crying. This just made the poor little one scream even more. Nami would demand that he be quiet, but in his drunken state HE wouldn't care. Now however, is where we've hit rock bottom.

Nami sighed once again. _It's gotten so bad. _Nami looked over to her sleeping son, a tranquil look upon his face. She started to cry. Her silent sobs shook her body. _This wasn't how it was supposed to be._ Her sobs were no longer silent and tears were flowing from her eyes in long streams. There was a stirring in the other bed. Jimmy sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

" Mommy, why are you crying?"

Nami got up and hugged her little boy. Jimmy just snuggled into her warm embrace. The boy was too young to understand what his mother was going through. All he could do was hold on and hope it helped. Nami continued to cry. After a while her tears slowed and her sobs began to get quieter. Nami released her son from her embrace and wiped her tears off the top of his head. Jimmy looked up. Nami searched his eyes and could see nothing but worry and sadness.

" Did Daddy hit you again Mommy?" Jimmy asked with such innocence it killed. " I don't like to see Daddy hurt you."

Nami almost started balling again. " I don't like to see Daddy hurt you either hunny."

" Mommy?"

" Yes?"

Jimmy paused for a moment. " Why are we still here?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, she had made her decision. Without any explanation, Nami began packing a bag. She threw in all the belongings she could fit, as well as as much of Jimmy's things as she could. Jimmy grabbed his teddy bear off the floor and held it tight. He didn't need to understand what was happening to know that they were leaving now.

That night was the last one Nami ever spent in Forget-Me-Not Valley. The town had once been the only place she felt at home. Now it was just another place she had to run from. Carrying Jimmy piggy back style, the two left Forget-Me-Not Valley never to return. Later that night HE would come home and see the note she left on their bed.

_We couldn't take it anymore._

_You were once the man I fell in love with._

_You could have been a great father._

_But you left that all behind._

_We wont be coming back._

_~Nami_


	2. The Fire Opal's Return

Disclaimer: I do not own anything! It all belongs to Natsume! Except of course Jimmy, and Luke. They be mine!

Hello people! I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the story so far. If it weren't for you guys, this chapter would never exist. The original was intended to be a one shot, but after many requests to continue, I wrote this as a next chapter/sequel. I apologize that it isn't really all that good, but hey I tried. This section is in Jimmy's point of view just in case anyone is confused at first.

So read and enjoy! Make sure to review when you're done!

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The gravel on the ground crunched under my footsteps. Forget-Me-Not Valley. That's where I had arrived. It's been fifteen years since I last set foot in this town. I don't remember much from back then. How could I, I was only four – barely able to have cognitive memory. From what I do remember, I could tell that the town had changed.

I will always remember how wonderful it was when I was taken down to Gustafa's hut and got to listen to his guitar. The hut isn't there now. Just a slightly browned patch of dirt where it had once been. I remember how I was always curious about what Cody was working on in his strange house. Now the house looks boarded up – like it hasn't been entered in years. I remember being taken over to Galen's house to keep him company after his wife died. Now his grave sits beside his wife's – I hope they're both at peace.

Walking through the town I continued to notice differences. It appears that Romana has died also. I can just barely see Lumina at her grave over by the manner. She looks very lonely. Some things hadn't changed. The bar was still there, and from what I could tell Muffy still worked there. There are a few more houses built in the town center; a few more people that I don't know. The Inn is boarded up. That was no surprise to me, they left shortly after we did. They opened a small bed and breakfast in the town just over the hill from our own.

During this whole journey I'd dreaded just one place. My mother always told me never to come back here – that it would just hurt me. But I'm nineteen now – far old enough to face the truth of things. I can only slightly see my old home over the hills in the town. I wonder if he remarried? Does he have a new family? The thought made me a little sad.

Slowly I walked over to the entrance of the farm. Once there, I saw my father still working on the farm. Mother would be surprised – she swore he'd never work again. His hair was slightly graying and he had a few wrinkles. He was getting old.

I was about to walk over to him when I heard a voice call out from our old house. It was a woman's voice. _So he did remarry..._ I hid behind some foliage and watched the scene unfold. If I wasn't mistaken, that woman was Celia. She looked rather unhappy though. Mother told me she'd been in love with Gustafa. Maybe he left before she had the chance to tell him. How sad.

I couldn't hear anything they were saying to each other. They were speaking in hushed voices. My father wiped the sweat off his brow and put down his tools. Then we waited. For a moment I thought I'd been discovered; they were looking my way. But then they smiled and I turned around to see what they were actually looking at.

A boy about thirteen years old was walking into the farm. He looked just like Celia. But I could tell. I saw it. He was my father's new son. My heart broke the moment I realized it. He had replaced not only mother, but me too. I could feel tears begin to well up in my eyes. I scolded myself internally. _What kind of man are you? Quit sniveling like a girl.. _But I couldn't help it. The tears just came.

I don't know how long I stayed hidden behind that bush. It had to have been many hours though, because it was getting dark out. Slowly I got up, ready to leave this place and the pain behind. Mother had been right. I should've never come back. I began to walk away from the farm when a voice stopped me.

" Are you Jimmy?"

I froze. " Who wants to know?"

There was near silence for a moment. The only sound being that of crunching gravel under feet, and the crickets chirping. I turned around. The person who had addressed me was the boy I'd seen earlier. He looked so very much like Celia. He even had the same sweet gaze that made you calm no matter the circumstances. It was for this only reason I didn't run away.

The boy smiled. " I'm Luke."

" .... Yeah I'm Jimmy."

Luke's smiled turned a little sad. " I thought so." he paused, " I saw you earlier, hiding in the bushes. Your hair sorta gave you away. Those bushes are green and don't have orange flowers."

I mentally scolded myself for being so stupid. " Was I that obvious?"

" Not really. Mom and Dad never pay attention to the bushes. That's my job."

" Oh."

There was silence after that. A quite uncomfortable one too. The longer we stood there, the greater the urge to run became. I could tell that Luke wanted to say something. He seemed to be contemplating something really hard, but just couldn't get it out. I wasn't inclined to pressure the boy. I understood difficult topics and how hard they were to breach. Finally after what seemed like ages he spoke.

" I heard about what Dad used to be like." Luke was frowning now, " Muffy was blabbering on about it at the bar while I was helping clean glasses there one night..."

I was confused and a little irritated. " Yeah so... what does that have to do with you? Things look fine and dandy to me."

Luke appeared angry now. " It has a lot to do with me!" he paused for a moment and sighed, " He hasn't really changed much."

" Really?"

" Yeah... sometimes... when they think I'm asleep... I can hear them. My Mom and Dad.. fighting... it kills me.."

I felt bad for snapping at the boy now. " I'm so sorry to hear that."

"But you know, that's not what bothers me the most." Luke clenched his fist, " What bothers me is that Dad pretends like he never had a family before us; like I'm his only son and Mom was his only wife."

Luke leaned against a tree nearby. " I was happy once.. completely content with my life, and my family. Then one day Dad asked me to take a box of stuff down to the basement. I'm a curious boy, so I took the opportunity to check out some of the old stuff down there."

He looked at me with a sad expression. " I wish I wasn't so curious. Then maybe I could still be a happy boy.... I saw an old picture.. in it was Dad, some woman with red hair, and a little baby boy with bright orange hair.."

I frowned. " That's my Mom and me..."

Luke nodded. " Exactly. In with the photo were a bunch of old clothes, and toys, and other belongings.... I spent a couple hours down there going through them all. Then later that night I asked Dad about them." Luke cringed, " That was a bad idea. He yelled at me and told me I should keep my nose out of people's stuff..."

" Jerk." I crossed my arms for emphases.

" Once I'd stopped crying mom told me everything. About how I had a half brother, and that she wasn't the only wife Dad had. About how things weren't always so good around here. No details of course. The only things she really told me were that my half brother's name was Jimmy, and that his Mom was Nami...." Luke looked like he was ready to cry, " I was angry at Dad. How could he have just abandoned you like that?"

I gave a sour look. " He never loved me.. even from back then I can remember how he looked at me. How he ignored me and hurt me. That's why we left. Mother wasn't going to take it anymore."

I had listened to Luke's whole speech quite intently. The boy seemed to be completely upset at the neglect we had faced. It was a little confusing. He would've never come to be had we not left. Again he looked like he was toying with an idea, but wouldn't say it. After a few moments however, he spoke up.

" Mom says I can leave if I want to...."

I was a little shocked. " Why would you go? You have it fine enough here. Your Mom is here, your life is here. Being on the run isn't fun... trust me."

Apparently I had said the wrong thing. Luke began to cry. He threw himself at me, and next thing I knew we were hugging. I didn't push him away. He looked like he really needed a hug. Plus, he's my half brother. I may not know him very well, but I'm the older brother it's my job to look out for him.

" You're going to leave town soon aren't you?" Luke said through tears.

I felt extremely guilty for what I was about to say. " Yes. I'll most likely leave as soon as you go back inside."

Luke shook his head, I could feel his tears slowly soaking my shirt. " No! You can't!... Take me with you?"

The word 'no' was already fixed on my tongue ready to be said but I stopped. I was a little conflicted. I didn't want to leave Luke behind. The thought of actually having a brother wasn't so heart breaking anymore. It seemed to give me a sense of purpose. Now the only heart breaking thought was leaving the poor boy behind. He seemed so broken. Something had to have happened that he wasn't telling me. Celia would have never said he could leave had something not happened. I grabbed Luke's shoulders, pushed him away a little and looked him in the eyes.

" What did he do to you?" I searched his eyes for some indication of something. " There has to be something you aren't telling me... I know your Mom. She used to be best friends with my own. She'd never let her only son go if there weren't a reason."

Luke continued to cry and then backed off and rolled up his sleeve. " This. This is what he did to me."

I was taken aback. A huge scar spanned the entirety of Luke's arm. The scar was so long, part of it was lost under the sleeve that wasn't rolled all the way. I was going to ask what had been done, but I already knew. My mother shared a very similar scar on her back. She'd been sliced with a sickle during one of father's rages. Right in front of me – I had been two at the time. It's the earliest memory I have.

That's when I made my decision. If Luke wanted to leave, then I'd take him with me. He's my brother and I intend to look after him. I'm sure mother will understand. It only took a nod for Luke to understand that he was welcome to join me. He ran into the house. I waited by the entrance for him to return. When he did, he came back with Celia. She ran over to me and hugged me. It was just a little awkward.

She smiled at me as she let me go. " My you've grown so much. Why I remember when you were just a little baby. You do look so much like your mother. How is she by the way?"

The casual conversation was a little weird. " Uh.. she's fine. She hasn't remarried but she says she doesn't care. It's just the two of us at home. Oh and sometimes we go and visit Tim and Ruby over at the next town. They set up a small bed and breakfast there."

" Oh that's nice. It's good to hear that Tim and Ruby are doing well too since they left..." and then Celia frowned.

There was no doubt in my mind that she was thinking about Gustafa. There was also no doubt that she had been forced into her currant marital status. But I could tell as well that even though she didn't enjoy her husband, she loved her son. I felt a little bad knowing I was taking him away.

I waited for a bit while Celia said goodbye to Luke. Then I was given the instruction to tell mother Celia said hello, and that I had to take good care of Luke. _I'm a big brother now.. it's my responsibility.._ Then after that, Luke and I left for the entrance of the village.

For the second time in my life I was walking out of Forget-Me-Not Valley. It's been fifteen years since I last set foot in this town. I'm happy I did. With Luke at my side, we walked out of the town feeling a little less lonely and broken. We're brothers. It's a bond nobody can break. We may not really know each other well, but I know that will change. The last things we saw as we walked out of town were the happy tears of Celia.

She knew we were headed to a better place.

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I'm really sorry about the cheesy ending! Please forgive me! Also, here's a side note. Luke is actually the son on my sister's game (our games are about 1 game year apart). That's where I got the initial idea to do the remarry Celia thing. Just a fun little tidbit for anyone who cares.

Review plz!


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